Friday, June 10, 2016

By the time you read this, I'll be on the road to the old hometown for a short reunion with some of my high school classmates. They all think I still look like this. I won't be answering e-mail or commenting on the blog for a day or two. I've scheduled some stuff, though, so the blog will carry on all by itself if all goes well. Be nice while I'm gone.

NY Daily News: Howe, the legendary Hall of Fame Canadian right wing known for his scoring prowess, his willingness to fight, and his career longevity playing 25 of his 26 NHL seasons for the Detroit Red Wings – died Friday morning in Ohio, according to numerous reports, including the Hockey News’ Ken Campbell. Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

Tampa Bay Times: A remake of 1984’s Splash is now in the works, according to Slashfilm.com. It turns out that producer Brian Grazer, who co-founded Imagine Entertainment with Ron Howard (who directed the original flick), thinks it’s time for a contemporary reboot.

The illustrious George Kelley reviewed this one years ago, but I'm always behind the curve. I did, however, review Wondrous Beginnings, Magical Beginnings, and Horrible Beginnings, all of which are based on the same idea: publishing the first stories of famous authors. In those books, each story was in most cases accompanied by the author's commentary on it. James L. Sutter takes a slightly different approach. Each story is accompanied by an interview with the author, and while the interviews do touch on the stories, they range a little farther afield. Sutter wanted to include in his book writers who weren't in the volumes I mentioned above and who would be available for an interview. I've commented on at least one of these stories before, Cory Doctorow's "Craphound," a very good first story. China Miéville cheats a little by offering a story that no one knew was his first story. It was published when he was 14 and had heard about but not read Ridley Walker. Considering those two things, it's an amazing piece, and it's pretty amazing on its own, even aside from that. Charles Stross says he didn't want his story to be reprinted and didn't even want to re-read it, but he allowed it, anyway. Several of the writers have amusing anecdotes about how their first stories came about. R. A. Salvatore's comes to mind.This is another of those books in which the supplementary material is as entertaining as the works it collects. If you enjoy SF or just reading interviews with writers, you'll get a kick out of this one.Introduction: where it all began /​ by James L. SutterThe Guy with the eyes /​ by Spider RobinsonFragments of a hologram rose /​ by William GibsonA Long way back /​ by Ben BovaPossible to rue /​ by Piers AnthonyCraphound /​ by Cory DoctorowHighway 61 revisited /​ by China MiévilleIn Pierson's orchestra /​ by Kim Stanley RobinsonDestroyers /​ by Greg BearOut of phase /​ by Joe HaldemanThe Coldest place /​ by Larry NivenMirrors and burnstone /​ by Nicola GriffithJust a hint /​ by David BrinA Sparkle for Homer /​ by R.A. SalvatoreThe Boys /​ by Charles StrossGinungagap /​ by Michael Swanwick.

“Sisters in Crime and ‘A Currency of Generosity’” (by Leslie Budewitz) | SOMETHING IS GOING TO HAPPEN: It’s been several years since Leslie Budewitz’s fiction has appeared in EQMM. In the intervening time she’s had stories published elsewhere, including in our sister magazine, AHMM, and she has two novel-length series running. She tells EQMM that she “blends her passion for food, great mysteries, and the Northwest in the Seattle Spice Shop Mysteries and the Food Lovers’ Village Mysteries, set in Jewel Bay, Montana.” Leslie has also written nonfiction in the genre; she is a practicing lawyer and her book Books, Crooks and Counselors: How to Write Accurately About Criminal Law and Courtroom Procedure was a critical success, winning an Agatha Award in 2011. In fact, Leslie is the first author to win Agatha Awards for both fiction and nonfiction. She has recently taken on yet another role in the mystery field as president of Sisters in Crime—the subject of today’s post. If, after reading her tribute to this ground-breaking organization you’d like to learn how to join, visit www.SistersinCrime.org.—Janet Hutchings

Tuesday, June 07, 2016

Variety: Theresa Saldana, who starred on “The Commish” and in “Raging Bull” alongside Joe Pesci, died Monday in Los Angeles. She had been hospitalized at Cedars-Sinai but no cause of death has been given. She was 61.

I, Cthulhu, endorse Donald Trump: We will win, together, Cthulhu and Trump. We will win, and Cthulhu shall prevail. In his house at R’lyeh, dead Cthulhu lies dreaming a new dream and that dream is the American Dream.

Once upon a time there was a small regional mystery convention in Dallas, Texas. It was held annually for several years, and one of the people I met there was Rick Centner. He played a mean guitar and mentioned that he'd once had a group that recorded a song on the Fantasy label in 1964. Until now I hadn't heard the song. As it turns out, it's pretty darn good, a nice number in the Buddy Holly vein.

Pretend you're a Hollywood movie producer wondering what to do next. You start thinking about what a wonderful movie Charade was, and it comes to you: Remake! Instead of Audrey Hepburn, you can get Thandie Newton! And instead of Cary Grant you can get . . . Mark Wahlberg! What could possibly go wrong? The answer to that rhetorical question is in the previous sentences.Not that Thandie Newton is bad. I thought she'd have a better career than she's had, in fact, although she's no Audrey Hepburn. But putting Mark Wahlberg in Cary Grant's part? No way that was going to work. The supporting players aren't all that great, either, although they're okay.The plot of the movie is essentially the same as that of Charade, so if you've seen that one, you know what's going to happen. Jonathan Demme directed, and he put in a few little touches, like having Charles Aznavour sing a number, but they don't help. Peter Stone, who wrote the screenplay for Charade, wouldn't let his name be used in the credits.Remakes aren't necessarily bad. They had to do The Maltese Falcon three times to get it right. In this case, however, stick to the original. You can't go wrong there.

1-Star Review for Overfed Betta Fish Nets $1M Lawsuit: – In what amounts to much ado about a Betta fish, Ars Technica picks up the case of a Texas couple who went on vacation last year, and did what many traveling pet owners do: They hired a pet-sitting service, a simple act that has now resulted in "numerous death and rape threats" and a $1 million lawsuit. Allow us to explain how we got here

It's no secret that I'm a fan of this series starring Vivian and Brandy Borne, as I've reviewed quite a few of the books previously. It's also no secret that "Barbara Allan" is, in reality, a mild-mannered reporter for a great . . . no, wait, I'm getting a little confused. It's no secret that Barbara Allan is, in reality, Barbara and Max Allan Collins.As you regular readers know, Vivian and Brandy are a mother-and-daughter (okay, not really; it's complicated) team of antiques dealers and amateur sleuths, sort of like Nick and Nora Charles, but with less booze and more drugs (totally legal, of course -- lithium Prozac, and insulin). The little dog on the cover is Sushi (who gets the insulin), not Asta.While waiting for production to begin on their reality TV series, Vivian and Brandy take a trip to Old York, a determinedly retro town, where Vivian is going to perform her one-woman show of Macbeth, or as she prefers to call it even when not in the theater, "the Scottish play." She'll distinguish each character with a different hat. Vivian is as self-confident as any woman in fiction. She knows she'll be a smash hit.[Aside: I once saw Howard Waldrop do a reading of "Thirty Minutes over Broadway! Jetboy's Last Adventure," his only story in George R. R. Martin's Wild Card series, by using this technique. It was swell.]You won't be surprised to learn that almost as soon as Vivian and Brandy arrive in Old York, people start to die in ways that appear accidental but that Vivian is sure are murder. (Her self-confidence isn't limited to her faith in her thespic talents.) The results of her and Brandy's investigations are both hilarious and suspenseful, and Vivian does get to perform the Scottish play, with unexpected results.The small-town politics and characters all ring true, and laughs abound. Most of the book is told in the first-person by Brandy, but Vivian always gets one chapter. Here she gets a bit more, and there's some wonderfully funny meta material in her parts of the book. As usual, this one is highly recommended.[Aside #2: Reading this was a little spooky, as I'm just about to finish writing a Sheriff Rhodes book called Dead, to Begin With, which is about a murder in a small-town theater and in which the victim dies in much the same way as one of the victims in Antiques Fate. Purely coincidental, which is why I'm mentioning it here. I wouldn't want you to read my book in 2017 and think I stole anything.]